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File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [39r] (77/484)
The record is made up of 1 item (242 folios). It was created in 1 Nov 1919-20 May 1924. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
that sole pbject of America’s attack is the
concessions of Turkish Petroleum Company and that
she does not question rights of Company to work
concessions relating to transferred territory* I
venture to urge it is well worth while approaching
American Government on point somewhat on following
lines. (Begins) Since Lord Curzon’s note of August
1920 which stated position as it then was, drilling
operations have continued at Naft Khanah. Now, just
as these are about to reach fruition Army for whose
i
benefit they were originally undertaken has been so
greatly reduced that its demand for liquid fuel would
not compensate capital expense incurred. Simultaaeoasly
there has been established an Iraq Government which
though not yet in a position to stand alone is
rapidly consolidating and requires that resources of
country be developed. The protocol of 1913 and
connected concessions is accepted by this Government
as binding and it proposes to co-operate in
acceleration of work on Naft Khanah fields leaving
question of Turkish Petroleum Company for future
consideration. Having regard to notes which have
been exchanged Secretary of State tor Foreign Affairs
thinks it desirable to bring these facts to notice
of United States Government and he would be glad to
receive their assurances that the protests they have
addressed as regards Mesopotamian oilfields in
general were not intended to have reference to these
oilfields in particular (ends).
Thirdly Oil has been s trucK at Naft Khanah
and though not yet in paying quantities prospects
are
About this item
- Content
The item comprises correspondence and other papers concerning oil exploration in territories that were part of the Ottoman Empire prior to the First World War. The item includes: reports on exploratory drilling being undertaken by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) at Naft Khana [Nafţ Khānah], in territory transferred from Persia [Iran] to Mesopotamia [Iraq] in 1914 in response to recommendations made by the Turco-Persian Boundary Commission; the question of whether APOC drilling activity at Naft Khana should be paid for out of military funds, given Britain’s military occupation and administration of Mesopotamia during and after the First World War; oil concessions in Mesopotamia in relation to the San Remo Oil Agreement (1920), signed between the British and French Governments; a 1920 survey report by the APOC geologist, William Robert Smellie, entitled ‘Oil in relation to Fars anticlines’ (ff 132-139), and a response by the Officiating Director of the Geological Survey of India, Edwin Hall Pascoe, that disagrees with Smellie’s findings (ff 100-101); British Government policy on mining and oil prospecting in Palestine; and correspondence exchanged between representatives of the Government of the United States and the Foreign Office, relating to the refusal to permit American companies to conduct oil surveys in Mesopotamia.
The item’s principal correspondence are: the Foreign Office; HM Petroleum Executive, the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson; and representatives of the Government of the United States.
The item includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (242 folios)
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’ [39r] (77/484), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/557/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100076914801.0x000059> [accessed 4 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/557/2
- Title
- File 2249/1915 Pt 4 ‘Oil: Mesopotamia & Persia. (General File) 1920–24’
- Pages
- 1r:6v, 8r:15v, 19r:28r, 30r:47v, 49r:56v, 59r:60v, 62r:63r, 65r:65v, 68r:74v, 77r:105v, 107r:131v, 140r:146v, 149r:163v, 174r:187v, 190r:190v, 193r:198v, 200r:201v, 203r:212v, 214r:229v, 231r:242v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence